


In A Totally Not Normal Complimenting Way

by tumblruserpailylove



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: Attempted Flirting, Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, Drabble, F/F, Memories, Nervousness, Prompt Fic, Tumblr Prompt, actual real life show dialogue, baby gay paige, two part prompt fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 18:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15846576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tumblruserpailylove/pseuds/tumblruserpailylove
Summary: A two part prompt fill: The first prompt was "Can I kiss you?" the second prompt was "I'm flirting with you."





	1. Can I Kiss You?

**Author's Note:**

> (Just moving my old works from ffnet and tumblr to here)  
> (I have not re-read or edited any of my old works so sorry if they're horrible)

“Can I kiss you?” Paige’s voice trembled softly as the words tumbled from her lips. She stared nervously at the girl she had just mumbled the words to. Her breath caught in her throat and she waited what felt like an eternity for a response.

“PAIGE!” Mrs. McCullers’ voice broke Paige’s concentration from downstairs. Paige whirled around from her full length mirror and stared at her bedroom door that stood cracked open slightly.

“I’M COMING!” Paige called back before turning to look into her mirror again. She drew in a deep breath, nodded at her reflection, and tried to smile at herself “You can do this.” Her reflection didn’t look convinced and she just rolled her eyes at it before turning around to grab her swim bag from where it sat on her bed “Oh like you know anything” She snarled at the mirror before turning and rushing out of her bedroom.

She took the steps two at a time until hitting the foyer with a thud. Her mother stood there looking a bit annoyed with her arms folded over her chest “You are going to be late.”

“It’s fine” Paige mumbled shyly and motioned to the door. “I had to find my goggles. Now can we go?”

It was the first day of swim camp between Sophomore and Junior year and Paige was excited. Well, she was nervous, but mostly she was excited. This year was going to be great. She was going to try and be the anchor for the relay team since the old anchor graduated last year. She was going to work extra hard to try and get a scholarship. Most importantly, though, she was going to try and talk to Emily Fields.

She had been teammates with Emily since eighth grade. Though their middle schools didn’t have swim teams, they did have an after school recreation team and that is where she had met Emily. She remembered the day like it was yesterday. Paige stood awkwardly against the back wall waiting for her turn to jump off the blocks. The coaches were watching each girls’ technique both in the water and off the starting blocks. Paige had always been fast off the blocks, she wasn’t nervous about that. What she was nervous about was her technique on her breast stroke. It had always been the hardest for her.

“Are you okay?” A young, slender Emily Fields had asked her. That’s when Paige felt something in the pit of her stomach that she had never felt before. Even if Emily was skinny and tall in an awkward way because the rest of her body hadn’t grown into her height yet, she was still beautiful. It had taken Paige completely by surprise.

“Hello?” Emily waved her hand in front of Paige’s face and laughed softly “Are you okay?”

“Oh” Paige blinked herself out of her thoughts and offered a nervous half smile to the girl. “Sorry I was just thinking.”

“About what?” Emily asked with a friendly smile.

Paige just shrugged. That’s when her name was called for her turn on the blocks. “Excuse me, I’m up.”

“Good luck!” Emily said with a little wave as the quiet new girl brushed passed her.

Paige climbed onto the blocks and that was when she had noticed her legs were wobbly. She wasn’t nervous about her technique anymore. She was completely consumed by the feeling the girl had just given her.

Paige let out a happy sigh as the memory slid from her mind. She was in the car on the way to her first practice of the year. This was going to be a great year, she told herself. She was going to be the best swimmer on the team, she was going to go out for team captain, relay anchor, and most importantly she was going to talk to Emily Fields.

She was going to be brave this year, unlike the previous two. She wasn’t going to stay in the background to avoid being seen. She wasn’t going to rush out of practice before everyone else so she didn’t have to run into Emily. No, this year was going to be amazing. This was the year it all changed. This was the year she not only spoke to Emily Fields but maybe even became friends with her. This was the year she might actually admit to herself why she wanted to be friends with Emily so badly. Maybe.


	2. I'm Flirting With You

Paige drew in a deep breath and wiped her clammy hands down the front of her swimsuit, which didn’t help because her swimsuit was wet. She had decided that today was the day. She was going to speak to Emily. She had spent the summer almost talking to Emily and then chickening out. She had said a total of ten words to Emily since the first swim camp and they were all a mixture of ‘good job Fields’ and ‘nice speed Fields’. But today would be different, she would say something more to Emily.

She had spent months preparing and practicing what she would say. But then Emily had disappeared. She had seemed a little distracted, a little distant, and altogether uninterested. Then one day Paige had seen Emily with Maya and, well, that had killed her. That had done something to her that she couldn’t explain. Paige had decided she never wanted to look at Emily again. If she never heard the name Emily Fields again it would be too soon.

Then all of the sudden she was back on the team. Emily was at practice every day and she was doing good. She was doing better than good. Her focus was laser sharp, her strokes were slicing the water at breakneck speed, and her times were near record-breaking. It had intimidated Paige but at the same time it exhilarated her. It terrified her and completely threatened everything she had worked for but a bigger part of her was excited. Emily Fields was back. As confusing as that was, it was also incredibly intoxicating.

So despite all of the confusion that had rushed back to her when Emily came back to the team, she decided she was going to talk to her. She had already lost so much time and she didn’t want to lose anymore. Who knew if she would disappear again. So she drew in a deep breath, took a step toward Emily, and opened her mouth to speak.

“IN THE WATER!” The coach yelled before blowing on her whistle. The girls all shuffled around to their spots and just like every day before they started to jump off the blocks in perfectly timed intervals signaled by each time the coach blew her whistle.

Paige stepped up to her block and turned her head to the left. There beside her was Emily. She couldn’t help but smile. As much as she loved swimming it hadn’t been the same without her there. Just getting the chance to stand beside her made swimming practice so much better. Paige had been so consumed by staring at Emily that she nearly missed the whistle to jump into the water.

As furiously as Paige swam, wanting to get out of the pool as fast as possible before she lost her nerve to talk to Emily, she wasn’t fast enough. By the time she had hit the wall, Emily was already out and wiping down. Paige took a deep breath and smiled as she started to pull herself from the pool “Ease up, Fields. This is a practice, not a meet.”

The coach praised Emily as Paige went over to her towel. She wiped at her arms a few times, nodding when the coach turned her attention on her “Paige, looks like you have some competition. Emily remembered she likes to win!”

“Happy to have her back” Paige glanced at her coach before looking back at Emily. She wiped her face, pausing over her mouth to hide her smile. She was actually talking to Emily Fields and not being a bumbling fool! She could totally do this. She drew in a breath and moved her towel around her waist, eyes still on Emily as she pushed forward “So is this for real this time? Can I count on you for the full season?”

Emily looked a little guilty at Paige’s words but she didn’t walk away. “I was distracted for a little while but…” She leaned over to scoop up her goggles before looking back at Paige “That’s over now.”

It’s over now? What did that mean? Though Paige wasn’t sure exactly what Emily had been going through, she could make an educated and that guess was Maya. In that moment a new hope sprung to life in her chest, making her heart do a bit of a happy dance. She somehow managed not to freak out and just nodded a bit with a smile “Good” She walked passed Emily and into the locker room with a pride. She had talked to Emily without puking or running away.

She was still smiling after stepping out of the shower. She made her way to her locker and that’s when she saw Emily just a few lockers down. She bit back a smile as she put in her combination and pulled the little door open. She was trying to focus but her eyes kept drifting over to Emily who was brushing through her wet hair.

A weird quiet fell between them and each time Emily’s eyes lifted to look at Paige, Paige quickly looked away. They kept missing shared glances for a few more moments before Paige took in a deep breath and nodded again in a way of silently urging herself to speak. She cleared her throat and closed her locker, giving Emily a smile when the sound made her look up at Paige. “Have you been working out away from the team?”

Emily just shrugged and stuffed her brush into her bag. She zipped it up quickly and lifted it onto her shoulder “Not really. Why?”

Paige just shrugged and shook her head quickly, looking at her shut locker and wishing she hadn’t shut it. “I was just…..wondering. You look good.”

“Thanks” Emily said shyly, tucking some hair behind her ear. She stood there awkwardly for a few moments before shrugged and motioning toward the locker room exit “Is that all?”

Paige’s eyes went wide and she nodded again. She stepped aside to make room for Emily to pass by her. She waited until Emily awkwardly brushed all up on her in order to squeeze passed her then quickly cleared her throat “Have a good night, Em!”

Emily gave her a soft smile and a slight wave “Bye, Paige.”

Paige watched her go until she disappeared around the corner. Her eyes snapped closed and she let out a heavy sigh as she fell back against the lockers. She banged her head lightly a few times before putting a hand to her face in frustration “Hi, Emily how are you doing today? You look really good. No not in a totally normal complimenting a teammate way but in a you look really cute in your bathing suit way. What’s that?” She looked around as if someone spoke to her, when really she was just talking to herself. She nodded and gave a defeated sigh “Why yes, Emily. I’m flirting with you.”


End file.
